Methob of regulating the contraction of car-wheels



J. MURPHY.

Tampering Car Wheels.

Patented Aug. 7, 1849.

' 3N0. liIIiRPf-IY, or Kassmeroa PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD or meantime CONTRACTION or CAR-WHEELS.

specification of iietter's iatent No. 6,633, aat'e'a August "'7, 1849.

To all, whom it may 00mm.- A

ulating theContraction of GhilledRail'roadcar and other Wheels and Pulleys with Solid Hubs; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, eieaaana accurate description of the methodadopted for efl'ecti ng the cooling and contraction.

hubs have in most casesb'een unsuccessful, and in the few successful modes there is a degree "of uncertainty and "complication in the manipulation that renders the process expensive. The object to be effected is to cause "all the arts of the when a) @001 and contract in d e relative paoppaidn'in what there is found great practical difl"1cu'lty,'owingto the difference of the thickness of the parts, especially the hub as compared with the other parts. As the 'diffi'culty was well known, 'fnany modes were devised to remedy the defectand plate wheels of a curved form have been resorted to which would yield to the strain inevitable on cooling the wheel in the usual way, but this only lessened the evil effects without removing the cause. A second mode was the attempt to chill all parts of the wheel in an iron chill, but I believe this to be wholly unsuccessful. A better mode has been patented in which the wheels are taken from the flask and chill and placed in an oven heated to a high degree by a fire made within it, and when a sufficient number of wheels were put in this oven it was sealed and allowed to cool gradually occupying two or three days time to sufficiently reduce the temperature for removal, thus retarding the cooling of the thinner parts of the casting till the heavier parts are equally reduced in temperature.-

Before these specific modes above stated had been devised, it was a common thing to cool thick parts of castings by pouring water upon them, and in some instances the sand has been removed from them for that purpose, but it has always been found that it produced sudden and unequal contractions causing the parts to strain, and when used for cooling the hubs of wheels, leaving them as unsound or nearly so, as when left to cool in the natural way. It is in ordinaryp p p p L i quires a strong current. The many attempts that have been made to cast iron wheels in one piece with solid 3 practice impossible to regulate the cooling Be it known that I, JofiN Mtiiir'HY, of the f district, of Kensington, in, the county of, Philadelphia and .7 State of Pen'nsylvania, have discovered andinvented a new and Iin- I proved Mode "of Coolingfand Thereby R'egin this way with exactness as water eannct be kept in constant contact with the parts without reducing the temperature too much, and any mechanical device for supplying it must be attended with trouble and expense. It is obvious also when the sand has been refhoved from the hub as above stated that the air will have free access to the hub but without any ineans of regulating its action or producing 'a suflicient 'e'fi'ec't which re- Hence it has been the universal custom, nearly "to the present time to cast wheels with split hubs, a practice that is still followed by some of the best founders who have -not the patented processes. My inode of handling wheels after they are, 'cast is, to remove them from the flask and chill soon as I'can, and place them in a case of brickwork or other nonconductor ,or bad "conductor of heat, which case so formed as to inclose all the wheel except the hub, and is heated so as to be air tight, this retards the coolin gjof the rim and arms 'whichfis very important, while at the same time there is no chance of elevating their term erature above the point they are "atwh'en aced in the "case so as to endanger the crystallization of the rim by the chill, and the equal cooling of these parts is insured without further attention.

To reduce the temperature of the hub from which the core has been removed an air pipe passes under the case to the hub at the center through which a rapid current of air is made to pass by fan-bellows or other mechanical device or by the strong draft of a chimney stack, being at the same time regulated by proper valves. When the latter plan is adopted as shown in the drawing, a pipe leads from the center of the case over the hub into a chimney (for this purpose I usual employ the stack of the cupola) in which a small charcoal fire may be made to assist the draft, by this apparatus I can metal crystallizes; and the combined action of retarding the cooling of the rim and hastening that of the hub in the manner above set forth relieves the parts from all strain. The mode of operation and construction is as follows. 7

The description of the parts of my apparatus may be simplified by reference to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which 1 Figure 1, is aside view of the case. Fig. 2, is a top view of the wheel when in the case and Fig. 3, is a top view of the cover of the case.

I will proceed to describe my invention by reference to the drawings.

A is the cover or top of the case made of brickwork or other non conductor of heat bound with iron rings on the outside and in the center over the hub which is left exposed. (0 .0) are handles to this top or cover by means of which its position may be changed. (w) indicates the brick work of this top or cover. (a a) are holes in the top or cover through which the temperature of the rim of the wheel may be watched. (p p) are plugs or stoppers made of clay or other non combustible materials with which to close the apertures (a a).

B is the wheel in the case. is the eye of the wheel. ('0') the holes on the outside of the hub which are made in the sand and through which the air passes.

C, is the brickwork of the case. b, indicates the bricks around the tread of the wheel.

D is the pipe or flue leading from the top of the hub into the stack or chimney (L) through the hole therein marked F indicates the inside of the trunk or pipe under or in the case through which passes the stream of cold air to the hub of the wheel. w, is the door or gate at the mouth of this trunk or pipe through which the cold air enters by natural draft. m, shows a smaller door at the aperture 0 in the side of the pipe or trunk through which the cold air enters by a bellows, fan &c.

G is a valve in the pipe or flue D which regulates the amount of air passing through and around the hub.

I-I indicates a cover over an aperture in the top of the pipe or flue D, through which aperture a slight bar may be inserted with which to push out the core from the eye of the wheel after it is placed in the case. In this cover is inserted a glass through which the temperature of the hub may be watched. I r

(9) shows the sand or clay filling up the joint between the inner ring of the top or cover of the case and the outside of the flue or pipe D over the hub and (g') the sand or clay in the joint below the handles between the case and its cover, thus making these oints air tight.

What I claim as my invention and discovery and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1s- The mode of cooling and thereby regulating the contraction of chilled railroad car and other wheels and pulleys with solid hubs by the application of a stream of cold air to the hub, in the manner above described, in combination with the non-conducting case for retarding the cooling of the rim as herein set fort JOHN MURPHY.

Witnesses:

JNo. CLAYTON, ARMON DAVIS. 

